Verified Document

Parkes' Gargoyles Michael Parkes Painting Term Paper

There is an unanswered question here. The girl is still blowing bubbles and has barely noticed what has happened yet. But two other gargoyles turn to watch this one gargoyle who has freed itself from its eternal bondage. One of these is screaming, as if he is afraid, or wants to join the one who has become free. The young girl seems to be involved in what is before her, not the image of the gargoyle. But lying in the shadows is her teddy bear, an image of her babyhood, lying forgotten on the edge of the stone.

The gargoyles depicted in this painting are not the medieval norm. Though their heads are monstrous and have huge fangs, they are also half-human. The bodies are definitely human, though the back legs remind one of amphibians' legs, with huge muscles. There is a definite image depicted, perhaps from one of the specific literary works mentioned.

The viewer of the painting feels fear and exhilaration, fear because of the monsters, fear of falling, as the gargoyle leaps out into space, yet excitement over the newly found freedom, the chasing after bubbles and the symbolism in that. Bubbles are nebulous and may represent ideas. When someone dies for an idea, it is always exciting.

Yellow is the color of the dress that the young girl wears, a dress representing warmth and life, of waiting, of caution, of hazard. It is...

Blue is the color of eternity, of calm, of peace, of purity that keeps bad spirits away. It is a confident color, set against the girl's yellow dress that sometimes depicts cowardice.
The stone in the painting is a cold beige, a natural color, however, with hard and dangerous qualities, as it stands so high in the sky. Nothing appears below the trio of gargoyles and the girl. They are set off against the sky with nothing below them but space. It is a frightening picture of being set free in a world where perhaps nothing waits for those who fly freely.

The composition of the painting is active, with a strong, almost horizontal diagonal motion, as the body of the gargoyle springs up and out, from its base on the left-hand side. It is a composition that depicts motion and activity going from a strong base into an empty area in the upper right-hand side. The vertical form of the girl is the only solid thing in the picture, with the exception of the base from which the gargoyle springs. Her body is a projection of that base, standing firmly against a dark blue sky.

This painting creates a new world where monsters and humans co-exist and interact with one another. It could be the real world of Michael Parkes.

Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Painting Read Monet's the Stroll Monet Monet's
Words: 967 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Painting Read Monet's the Stroll Monet Monet's the Stroll, Camille Monet Her Son Jean (Woman With a Parasol) This painting epitomizes the impressionistic style and artistic philosophy in a number of different ways. If one looks closely at the painting by Monet one can see that the foreground, the sky as well as the dress and parasol are created by many short strokes of opaque paint. This gives the impression of a moment captured

Paintings Both Salvador Dali and Raphael Incorporated
Words: 991 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Paintings Both Salvador Dali and Raphael incorporated Christian imagery into their paintings. Raphael renders a scene from the life of Christ in "Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints." The painting is rendered on wood, with oil and gold leaf. It was designed to be a panel installed in a church: meaning that the painting had a cultural, religious, and ritualistic context as opposed to being art for art's sake. In Dali's

Painting Analysis of Jean Helion's 1948 Painting
Words: 1067 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Painting analysis of Jean Helion's 1948 painting "Grande Citrouillerie" (Big Pumpkin Event) Rather than a traditional harvest painting, as its title might suggest, "Grande Citrouillerie," or, in English translation the "Big Pumpkin Event," has the appearance of a poster or advertisement painted in an art deco fashion typical of the 19th century. The painting shows the form of a twisted, half cut open pumpkin with its inner seeds and hanging pulp

Paintings Monet's 1868 "The River"
Words: 320 Length: 1 Document Type: Term Paper

The black in the male cafe patrons' suits, renders an aura of sophistication. The combination of white and black grabs the eye and creates a sense of movement that corresponds with the lively dancing. Painted only 12 years later, Van Gogh's "Night Cafe" conveys a completely different cafe ambiance. Whereas Renoir's cafe is full of life and light, Van Gogh's is strikingly lonely, occupied by a few sullen drunks with

Painting Analysis Jean-Francois Millet: 'Priory
Words: 1931 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

His work can be seen as fitting into a wider context of artists working to represent the France their generally well-off and comfortably middle-class and upper-class purchasers wanted to see and to believe in. The purchasers of Millet's works may never have visited the Normandy countryside for themselves, but they could share in its beauty and its spiritual and moral values through Millet's art and the art of other

Painting in Question Here Has
Words: 828 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Is this a simple soldier pulling away the cadavers of his companions or death itself taking away dear individuals into the unknown? Who is connecting the physical bodies with the symbolic meaning of the stripes painted with their blood? The characters in the background also play an important role in the creation of the painting. With their presence, they create an antithesis to the characters in the foreground. They are

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now